We will be here a week on Friday and with la Nina very active this year, hopefully we can cross to the Bahamas early next week. Might as well relax and enjoy the area.
We walked along the beachwalk north to Bonnet House today. It is situated on a coastal barrier island with the Atlantic to the east, and the Intracoastal to the west. It is named for the lovely bonnet lily that grows in the ponds and was the home of the Frederic and Helen Birch Bartlett who deeded it to the FL Trust. This 35 acre site is surrounded by hi-rise condos but when you are visiting there, you are immersed in a natural area complete with swans, cockatoos and monkeys. When it was built in the early 1920’s, it was a jungle complete with bobcats, panthers, rattlers and the real marauder, the FL mosquito.
The hidden courtyard invites you in. You can understand why local artists regularly paint there to capture its beauty. Frederic Bartlett was an artist himself and did many murals and decorative touches to the property.
After our tour, it started to rain which is an unusual event in FL these days. We took the bus back to the marina and I decided to take a nap and then read all afternoon Rainy days are great for that.
We walked along the beachwalk north to Bonnet House today. It is situated on a coastal barrier island with the Atlantic to the east, and the Intracoastal to the west. It is named for the lovely bonnet lily that grows in the ponds and was the home of the Frederic and Helen Birch Bartlett who deeded it to the FL Trust. This 35 acre site is surrounded by hi-rise condos but when you are visiting there, you are immersed in a natural area complete with swans, cockatoos and monkeys. When it was built in the early 1920’s, it was a jungle complete with bobcats, panthers, rattlers and the real marauder, the FL mosquito.
The hidden courtyard invites you in. You can understand why local artists regularly paint there to capture its beauty. Frederic Bartlett was an artist himself and did many murals and decorative touches to the property.
After our tour, it started to rain which is an unusual event in FL these days. We took the bus back to the marina and I decided to take a nap and then read all afternoon Rainy days are great for that.
